In June we are hosting a one-day workshop, Kantha Stitching with expert teacher Ekta Kaul. Kantha is a beautiful stitch technique from the Indian subcontinent with a rich heritage rooted in storytelling and upcycling. Ekta is an award-winning textile artist who creates ‘StoryMaps’- narrative cartographic textiles that explore places, histories and belonging through stitch. Here we ask her to tell us more about her work.
Why do you choose to work with textiles?
Textile is the material we have the closest relationship to throughout our lives. We are draped in it from the moment we are born to the day we die. This lifelong intimacy saturates textiles with meaning that goes beyond their materiality. I am interested in textiles’ ability to hold the narrative of human experience. Therefore, it is my chosen medium to tell stories of people and places.
What do you enjoy about teaching this technique?
Kantha is one of my favourite stitches to use. I love its ethos of repurposing, mending and storytelling. Despite its simplicity Kantha is an incredibly versatile stitch as it can be used to create motifs, textures and quilt multiple fabric layers together. I enjoy teaching ways of interpreting this stitch, sharing its history and the joy of making a meaningful and sustainable textile.
What are your plans for 2020?
Lots of exciting plans! I am currently the artist in residence at China Town in London creating works inspired by the fascinating heritage of this place. Teaching textiles is taking me to international shores and I am looking forward to teaching embroidery in Vancouver this Spring. New embroidered maps and City embroidery kits are in the pipeline due to be launched later this year.
During the class you will learn to embroider a variety of Kantha stitches to create pattern and texture. By the end of the workshop you will have the skills and confidence to develop your Kantha project further.
To book, visit our Workshops.